Girl in the White Dress: Sam's Story (7 page)

             
“Uh, sure, sounds good.” Hell yeah, was what I said in my head. A coffee date with a hot guy equals heaven in my book. So what if it was to discuss school, I would take it.

             
“Great, I’ll see you next week, Sam.” I stood there slightly dumbfounded as he walked away. Sometimes my life could be very random. First, I run into him, literally, as I was going for a walk, then at the coffee place, and now school. Very interesting.

             
My cell phone rang as I was crossing the street. It was Trinity, of course. “Hey, you on your way back from your internship?” she asked.

             
“Yeah, I’m crossing the street as we speak.”

             
“Ok, cool. Do you look cute?”

             
“Excuse me?” What kind of question was that?

             
“Do you look cute?”

             
“Ok, well first, I would like to think that I always look cute, but yeah, I’m good.” I was giving her the weirdest look that she could not see. “Why?”

             
“Well, do not get mad,” Oh, dear God, “but Derek is on his way with a friend.”

             
“Trin, I told you I was all set right now.”

             
“I know, but it is a friend from high school that will be staying with him for a few days and I kind of said we would all hang out.” Derek had gotten an apartment with a friend when the semester started. I guess being a senior made him too cool for the dorms.

“Obviously, yo
u forgot I am still reeling over the last friend of his. Plus, it has only been like a week since I had my heart stomped on. Why on earth would I want to date someone now?”

“Please?
Just so he is not a third wheel? You do not have to think of it as a date. Just four people hanging out. Besides, he is going back home in a few days.”

“Ugh, fine. Just do not, and I mean do not,
push anything.”

             
“Promise! Now hurry up and get here so I can double check your outfit. They should be here in like ten minutes.”

             
“I’m walking up the stairs. Key in the…”

             
The door whipped open. “Hi,” she gave me the once over. “Ok, yeah, you look fine.”

             
“Gee, thanks.”

             
“Do I have time to pee?” I asked sarcastically.

             
“Yeah, I guess,” she joked.

             
I went to the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. Just because I did not want to be set up, did not mean I should not look nice or keep my options open.

             
When Derek got there with Pete, it was horrible. They may be good friends but there was absolutely no chemistry between Pete and I. Ok, so Pete was not horrible, he was actually a nice guy, but still nothing. I think I just made a new friend, though, on the plus side. We all made plans to go bowling the next night. After they left, I jumped in the bath, it was very nice to relax and soak up the bubbles. My plan was to swear off guys for a while, considering everything that happened with Jason and Matt in the past year and a half, but for some reason, my mind drifted back to Tim Patton. He seemed like an interesting fellow and I was excited to be meeting him for coffee next week.

             
My Thursday classes were ok. I managed to plan my schedule around my internship. I had most of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and one class on the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. The only downside was that class was at 8:30 in the morning. Fortunately, the coffee cart opened at eight and I had time to grab a cup before class.

             
Friday’s observation was fun. I had a chance to interact a bit more with the students, which was nice because I hoped it would give me a slight advantage next week. I had one more day of observing and then Wednesday I would have my own lesson.

             
Derek’s friend Pete was going home on Sunday and Trinity convinced me to hang out with the three of them Saturday night. She was lucky I loved her. We ended up going bowling again because the boys wanted a rematch. Trinity and I had whooped their behinds last time and they wanted redemption. The first couple of strings they were doing well, but not quite well enough. We won again. (Ha ha to them!)

             
It was nice to have some fun Saturday because Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were dedicated to homework and studying. Blah. I was looking forward to coffee with Tim on Wednesday, though. Trinity was wicked excited for me, even though I told her it was not a real date. That girl was crazy sometimes.

I managed to make it through my
lesson plan safely. The kids were great. After I helped Ms. Lafferty round the kids up for lunch, I was getting nervous for my coffee non-date. I knew he was just being nice and wanted to fill me in on the kids, but he was still a hot guy. I was standing in the hallway waiting for Tim and I heard his voice coming around the corner. I also heard a woman’s voice. Hmm, I wondered who was not in class.

             
“Hey, Sam,” he said. Next to him was a gorgeous, fit blonde woman.

             
“Hola,” I said. I had to use that Spanish I learned.

             
“Hi, I’m Stacey. I’m the P.E. teacher,” the blonde-haired woman said.

             
“Sam. Nice to meet you.” I waved. I hate that shaking hands thing, especially between women.

             
“You, too,” she turned to Tim. “So, I will see you Friday night?”

             
He looked a bit uncomfortable. “Yeah, I will pick you up at seven.”

             
“Great, see you then. See you later, Sam.” She turned and walked down the hall. I had never seen someone look quite that nice in sweats and sneakers. It was annoying and I was a tad jealous she had a date with Tim.

             
“So, you ready?” he asked.

             
“Uh, sure.” We headed to the door. “So, you and Stacey, huh?”

             
“Um, yeah. I guess. First date. We see each other all the time at the schools and hit it off,” he said.

             
“Good for you.” Good for you? I could not come up with anything better to say than that? Was my vocabulary that limited? Sheesh. Besides, I should not be jealous. I barely knew the guy.             

             
He laughed. “Good for me? Do I sense some jealousy?”

             
“Oh, do not be ridiculous. Someone thinks quite highly of himself.”

             
“Mmmhmm… Ok, well let’s go get some coffee.”

             
“Gladly.” We went to the coffee shop down the street from the school. Tim filled me in on the students and the general workings of the school. I also learned some things about him. He was from Boston and one hundred percent Irish. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts – Boston Campus three years ago and had been teaching at Fowler for the past two. His parents were still together and, now that he was out of the house, his parents were traveling everywhere. This week they were in India, apparently his mother had always wanted to go there. In a couple of months, they would be going to England for a few weeks. I expressed my jealousy. Someday I would get to Europe.

             
Ok, back to Tim. He currently lived a few blocks from campus, which explained why I saw him on my random walk. He was in the market for a dog and asked me if I wanted to go to the pet shop with him. Yes, you heard me correctly. I was aware it was not a date, but I was all for friendship. He was awesome. I was not in the market for a boyfriend, but a person could never have too many friends. That was what I kept telling myself anyway.

             
I headed back to the dorm after the coffee non-date. Trinity was waiting for me to go to dinner. “Hey, lady. Where have you been?” she asked.

             
“I had my coffee non-date with Tim.”                           

             
“Ooh. That is right. I forgot about that. How did it go?

             
“No ooh. We are just friends, first of all. Second of all, we are going dog shopping Saturday.”

             
“That is awesome!”

             
“Do not get too excited. I am still swearing off guys.”

“Too bad. He sounds great.” She grabbed her sweater. “Anyway, Derek and Pete are waiting for us.”

              “Pardon? I thought Pete left Sunday?”

             
“I know you have had your head in the books the past few days, but don’t you remember? I told you this morning. You said you would go. He decided he could hang around for a couple more days. He is definitely leaving tomorrow, Derek said.”

             
“Um, no. I vaguely remember you speaking and me saying ‘mmmfmphed’ because I was still sleeping.”

             
“Eh, whatever, come on, let’s go.”

             
“Trin…”

             
“You cannot not go. I do not want Peter to be a third wheel,” she whined.

             
“Oh, but it is ok if you make me feel uncomfortable.”

             
“Yes,” she said. “You are my best friend and you will forgive me. I do not know him well and he and Derek are friends.”

             
“I’m really not in the mood. I have a ton of homework to do. Seriously, I have a ten page paper due in a week, two tests tomorrow, and a group project meeting Friday.”

             
“Ugh, fine. I will see you later.”

             
“You are not staying at Derek’s tonight?

             
“Nah, his new roommate is having a poker night.”

             
“Ok, have fun. I will see you later.”

             
“Bye.”

              The rest of the night I spent studying for my tests, Adolescent Psychology and Contemporary American Authors. I flicked on the TV when I was done. My brain was starting to hurt and I was not sure I could fit anything more in there right now. There was nothing good on so I decided to go for a run around the track. It was so much easier than running on regular pavement. My knees hurt much less. I quickly changed into my running gear and jogged down the hill. I was mentally jamming to my CD player and did not notice anyone else on the track. (Side note, I really needed to start paying attention to my surroundings.) Next thing I knew there was a boy running next to me.

             
“Hi, I don’t think I’ve seen you over here before,” he said.

             
“Um, hi. I, uh, haven’t run over here in a while.” Should I be talking to him? I was not sure I should be talking to a stranger on the dark track. I could hear my mother yelling at me from Pennsylvania.

             
“I’m Zac. I am usually here a few times a week. I like to run at night, less people around here, except tonight. You obviously had the same idea.”

             
Ok, he seemed harmless, I was sure a serial killer would not be making conversation. He would have knocked me out already. “Sam. I was done studying so I decided to get out of my dorm and get some air.”

             
“Running always clears my head. Well, I’m just about done. Maybe I’ll see you around again?” he asked.

             
“Maybe,” I smiled. He was cute. I liked the athletic types, clearly, and he had the most adorable shaggy hair. Well, so much for staying away from boys. I was going to have to start running more often if I was going to be meeting some hotties. Maybe I can get Trinity to come running with me… ha ha… ok maybe Miranda or Kiley. Trinity was not such a fan of running or any exercise for that matter. Fortunately, for her, she was one of those people who could eat whatever they wanted and not gain a pound. Secretly, I was hoping the calories would catch up with her someday. I jogged back to the dorm and went to bed. I had to get up early to study some more for my tests. As I drifted off, my mind was thinking of the cutie at the track. Swearing off boys was harder than I thought, especially when they keep coming around.

             
Ok, so I just took my exams. I think I passed. I really really hated studying and tests. Midterms were in a few weeks already. Miranda and Kiley wanted to go to the mall tonight, but I was really not in the mood, which was strange for me to turn down shopping. I still needed to do my lesson plan for Friday and I had my group project meeting in the morning. Ms. Lafferty wanted me to do Math on Wednesdays and English on Fridays. I much prefer English to Math but making a lesson plan was not that easy for either subject. Originally, it was supposed to be just English, but she thought it would give me some extra experience to do Math once a week. I could handle basic addition and subtraction but it seemed like the Math was harder in lower grades now compared to when I was in elementary school. Luckily, she gave me what they had been working on and I had to come up with something related to that. (Fourth graders were really demanding!)